Astronomy

The current belief is that the age of the earth is 4.6 billion years; this figure is an essential foundation for the theory of evolution. Of course, if the age of the earth really is in billions of years, the age of the universe can be no less and reasonably would be much greater; it is currently set somewhere between 13 and 17 billion years, say, 15 billion earth-years in round figures.

Astronomers are looking again. It seems that they can't agree on the age of the universe, which is calculated from the Hubble constant. Last year new measurements were made using the orbiting Hubble telescope focused on the galaxy cluster in the constellation Virgo. These were to be the most accurate measurements yet.

When Charles Darwin gave his theory to the world in 1859, his followers recognized that there must have been some point in Earth's early history when elemental life spontaneously appeared from non-life. Evolution without a Creator demands that this must be the case, and the process is called "abiogenesis."

(By Walter Lang, executive director of the Bible-Science Association. This is a condensation of the essay delivered at the Creation Seminar at Lucerne, California, August 7-12, 1967, and at Biola College, La Mirada, California, September 9, 1967)

(Editor's note: Before we landed on the moon, those who believe that the Earth and moon are billions of years old feared that the moon was covered with deep dust that might swallow a spacecraft. They based this fear on measured rates of dust accumulation in our area of space. If dust had been accumulating at measured rates for billions of years, we could have a problem when we tried to land.

Today's Featured Product

Galapagos Islands

Observe the wondrous diversity of life, including birds, reptiles, and plants Learn how Darwin's worldview and the biblical worldview differ and the importance of this in studying the Galápagos With poignant chapters from Ken...